Moulton Votes To Impeach: A Sad Day For Me As An American Patriot

U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) declared that President Donald Trump, as well as complicit colleagues in the House of Representatives, must be held accountable for "the worst action in American history" ahead of a House of Representatives vote to impeach the president for a second time on Wednesday.

"Let's not forget that the Commander in Chief's No. 1 responsibility is to keep us safe," Moulton said in a Wednesday interview with MSNBC. "He not only failed in that responsibility, he incited violence against us, against fellow Americans, against the government he is supposed to lead.

"If we don't hold this president accountable for the worst action in American history — through all the bad presidents, racist presidents, we've ever had — if we don't hold him accountable, what message does that send to future generations of Americans, to future presidents?"

Moulton took to the House floor about 3:30 p.m. on Thursday and declared his intention to vote to impeach the president:

"Madame Speaker, there are more troops right now in Washington D.C. than there are in Afghanistan. They are here to defend us against the Commander in Chief — the president of the United States — and his mob.

"I would ask my colleagues to look at the faces of those young Americans defending democracy, defending us. And find an ounce of their courage to do the right thing — as several Republicans have. Take a tough vote for the future of democracy.

"The future of our country."

Moulton joined the rest of the Massachusetts delegation in voting for impeachment, which passed 232-197.

(2nd Trump Impeachment: MA Delegation Votes In Favor)

Moulton rejected a push from U.S. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) to forgo the impeachment vote in a spirit of "unity" since the president's term expires in one week.

"It's a very weak argument," Moulton said on MSNBC. "We need truth and accountability first."

The House of Representatives brought an article of impeachment against President Trump for a second time this week — charging him with "high crimes and misdemeanors" — after he was accused of inciting a violent mob that breached the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday in a riot that led to the deaths of five people.

Moulton, who told Patch last week he was in his office waiting to vote to accept the Electoral College vote confirming Joe Biden’s election as the 46th president of the United States, when the building went into lockdown and he was taken to a safe location.

"My life was at much greater risk when I was overseas in Iraq," the Iraq veteran told MSNBC on Wednesday. "I am always grateful to put my life on the line for my country."

(Rep. Seth Moulton: Capitol Attack Was A Trump-Inspired Coup)

Moulton told Patch the night of the attack that he held President Trump "100 percent responsible" for insurrection, and that he supported impeachment, but called the pending impeachment vote Wednesday a "sad" day rather than a satisfying one.

"Some people think that when you see the cultist adulation that so many Republicans have for Trump, or even the eagerness for violence that some of his supporters have shown, that Democrats must revel in the opportunity to impeach him for a second time," Moulton said, "for the first time in American history to impeach a president twice. I don't revel in this.

"This is a sad day for me as an American patriot. I'm a Democrat. But I'm an American first. This is not what I came to Congress to do. We're not impeaching Donald Trump because we want to do it. We're impeaching him because of what he did. And it's unfathomable."

He said Congressional colleagues who reportedly supported the insurrection, and may have even aided in the breach of some Capitol offices, "are absolutely dangerous to the institution" and must also be held accountable.

"They don't deserve to be members of Congress," he said. "I am embarrassed that they are my colleagues."

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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